TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Forbes Field is serving as shelter to five tankers and crews from the east coast.

The KC 135 tankers from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland arrived Sunday morning, taking shelter from Hurricane Sandy. In addition, 15 maintenance staff from the 459th Air Refueling Wing are staying in Topeka.

The Kansas Adjutant General's Office also sent a state incident management team to Maryland to help emergency responders when the hurricane hits. The team is made up of emergency responders who can help in disaster response through planning, logistics and finance.

Crews left Monday morning and will return to Kansas November 12th.

In addition, Westar Energy is among those staging to assist in power restoration efforts following the storm. Westar's contingent of 44 linemen, supervisors, safety and support personnel to assist left Saturday morning. They were headed to Pennsylvania.

Westar belongs to a mutual assistance group, where utility contractors call on each other for help following significant events like storms.

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